U.S. Senate hopefuls Bob Kerrey and Deb Fischer tangled over immigration, Medicare spending and the Keystone XL pipeline in their first face-to-face campaign debate at the Nebraska State Fair.

The debate Saturday in Grand Island offered voters a look at key differences between the candidates. In one exchange, Kerrey said a solution on immigration requires "a move to the middle," while Fischer argued that it's a national security concern.

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Fischer, a Republican state lawmaker, and Kerrey, a former Democratic governor and U.S. Senator, are both seeking the seat held by Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who is not seeking re-election in November.

Fischer pitched herself to voters as an experienced, conservative state senator, while Kerrey cast himself as a consensus builder, unafraid to challenge his party's leadership in Congress.

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When it comes to Medicare and Social Security, Kerrey supports a benefit-cutting, tax-raising proposal to fix what he calls $60 trillion unfunded liability.

"You can't solve this problem without increased revenue and decreased benefits. That's what Ronald Reagan did. It's what Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson are proposing. That’s what Durbin and Colburn have proposed. It solves the problem," Kerrey said.

Fischer, however, disagreed.

"I don't support cutting benefits. I don’t support raising taxes and I don’t support stealing $700 billion from Medicare to pay for this," Fischer said.

Fischer said she is willing to look at reducing some benefits.

"You could potentially increase the retirement age and do means testing for those who are 40 and younger," Fischer said.

Kerrey said the $700 billion from Medicare is necessary.

"You take that out, (and) that goes to hospitals and doctors right now. Medicare beneficiaries are going to pay more. That's the net effect of that," Kerrey said.

Immigration reform also took center stage.

"We need to implement an e-verify system that's mandatory for businesses. I don’t support a path to citizenship for anyone who's entered this country illegally," Fischer said.

"I support the Romney plan. I've endorsed that plan. It gives people who have served in the military the opportunity to get citizenship," Kerrey said.

On energy, Kerry touted the use of wind energy while Fischer supports drilling and the continued use of coal to keep Nebraska's energy costs down.

Despite their differences, the two candidates said they're running to fix a broken system any way they can.

"I do promise I will cross party lines and work with Republicans to balance the budget, simplify our tax code, reform immigration and do something about the widening gap of wealth and income," Kerrey said.

"I've cut spending, I've provided property tax and tax relief and I've balanced the budget. We do that in Nebraska. That's what we need to do in Washington," Fischer said.